DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.73058#0076
Bartolozzi and his Works.
CHAPTER XII.
Bartolotti.
/TNOqICT) CT'r;p^ C!a" collectors of Bartolozzi's prints will have
I 0 A '' ° ° observed the occurrence of a somewhat similar
/ name—Bartolotti—on stippled plates, more especially of fancy subjects, en-
graved at the time Bartolozzi was at the height of his popularity. Examples of the
signature are to be met with, having a single instead of the double t in the third
syllable; and the name is also spelt " Bartollotti," and " Bartolotty," the latter of which
forms the writer has seen on a print of "Winter," after J. Ward. He has also met with
a small oval plate, " Venus Presenting the Cestus to Juno," after Cipriani, published by
Jaunet, in Paris, engraved by Bartolonii.
The generally-accepted theory amongst dealers, and one that they are very fond of
putting before their customers, is that Bartolotti was a name assumed by Bartolozzi
when in Paris;* but of this there is not a shadow of evidence. Had it been so, the name
* It is almost a matter of certainty that Bartolozzi never visited Paris at all.
of Bartolotti, in some of its varieties, would certainly have been quoted by authorities ;
but no mention is made of it either by French or English writers, or in the latest text-
book, "Allgemeines Kiinstler-Lexikon," of Meyer and Lucke, of Leipzig; and further,
M. Georges Duplessis, of the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, in reply to an inquiry from the
writer says, "I know absolutely nothing of Bartolotti." It is true that the name appears
on stippled prints of the period published in Paris; but there are quite as many or more
thus signed, bearing the imprint of English publishers, with the descriptive lettering also in
English. The probability appears to be that unscrupulous publishers, both at home and
abroad, took advantage of Bartolozzi's fame, and employed a number of inferior engravers
to produce imitations of his work, which they signed with a manufactured name, trusting
that Bartolozzi and Bartolotti would be easily confused. None of the numerous
examples of " Bartolotti" that the writer has from time to time met with are in any
way comparable with the works of the great engraver; and the theory of there having
been any person really entitled to that name, may be said to be pretty well exploded.
56 CHAPTER
CHAPTER XII.
Bartolotti.
/TNOqICT) CT'r;p^ C!a" collectors of Bartolozzi's prints will have
I 0 A '' ° ° observed the occurrence of a somewhat similar
/ name—Bartolotti—on stippled plates, more especially of fancy subjects, en-
graved at the time Bartolozzi was at the height of his popularity. Examples of the
signature are to be met with, having a single instead of the double t in the third
syllable; and the name is also spelt " Bartollotti," and " Bartolotty," the latter of which
forms the writer has seen on a print of "Winter," after J. Ward. He has also met with
a small oval plate, " Venus Presenting the Cestus to Juno," after Cipriani, published by
Jaunet, in Paris, engraved by Bartolonii.
The generally-accepted theory amongst dealers, and one that they are very fond of
putting before their customers, is that Bartolotti was a name assumed by Bartolozzi
when in Paris;* but of this there is not a shadow of evidence. Had it been so, the name
* It is almost a matter of certainty that Bartolozzi never visited Paris at all.
of Bartolotti, in some of its varieties, would certainly have been quoted by authorities ;
but no mention is made of it either by French or English writers, or in the latest text-
book, "Allgemeines Kiinstler-Lexikon," of Meyer and Lucke, of Leipzig; and further,
M. Georges Duplessis, of the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, in reply to an inquiry from the
writer says, "I know absolutely nothing of Bartolotti." It is true that the name appears
on stippled prints of the period published in Paris; but there are quite as many or more
thus signed, bearing the imprint of English publishers, with the descriptive lettering also in
English. The probability appears to be that unscrupulous publishers, both at home and
abroad, took advantage of Bartolozzi's fame, and employed a number of inferior engravers
to produce imitations of his work, which they signed with a manufactured name, trusting
that Bartolozzi and Bartolotti would be easily confused. None of the numerous
examples of " Bartolotti" that the writer has from time to time met with are in any
way comparable with the works of the great engraver; and the theory of there having
been any person really entitled to that name, may be said to be pretty well exploded.
56 CHAPTER